Chapter 54.2: The Visit

“It should’ve been two groups, both claiming to be marine ecological protection organizations. One was led by a man named Honda, the other by Ashley—he’s British.”

“Should’ve?”

“There was also a new crew member named Zhu Changyong. He was close to my husband, but my husband said he probably came here for the same reason.”

“So that makes three groups. You were hired to guide them. How were the profits split?”

“The guiding fee was already high, and there was a cut of the proceeds afterward.”

“Keep talking about what happened once you got inside. I want to know what’s really in there.”

“There’s a wall in there, a huge wall, with a massive door on it. But the door can’t be opened. Honda said it’s just ornamental, solid and sealed, never meant to be reopened since the day it was built.”

“Then how did you get in?”

“There’s a gap at the top between the wall and the cave roof. Maybe it was seamless at first, but time pulled it apart. We climbed up and squeezed through.”

“Once inside, I saw…”

Pain and struggle crossed the woman’s face.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped pressing her and waited patiently.

After a moment, she calmed down, though her voice trembled. “Once we were in, we found ourselves back where we started.”

Li Zhuiyuan frowned slightly. “How long did it take to crawl through?”

“Ten minutes. It was tight, and we had to crawl with all our gear.”

“That’s a long time. So what are you afraid of? Even if you came in and went back out…”

“It was the same place we started.”

“You said that already.”

The woman looked straight at Li Zhuiyuan, enunciating each word: “At the place where we started, we saw ourselves.”

Li Zhuiyuan instinctively sat upright.

Now he understood why she was afraid.

“And then…?”

“They started fighting.”

“They?”

“I was the last one out. Per Honda and Ashley’s instructions, my husband and I had to go one at the front, one at the rear.”

“When I emerged, they’d already descended using a rope ladder.”

“A rope ladder?”

Li Zhuiyuan began visualizing the scene from her sparse description, trying not to miss any details.

“Zhu Changyong set it up.”

“Was there another Zhu Changyong on the other side?”

Li Zhuiyuan suspected Xu Wen’s target wasn’t Honda or Ashley, but most likely Zhu Changyong.

“Yes. When I got out, they’d already gone down the rope ladder. They were talking, and my husband was among them—two husbands.”

“When the two of them stood together, even I couldn’t tell which was the real one.”

“And you? Did you see another you?”

A smile slowly spread across her lips, heavy with meaning.

She didn’t answer directly but countered with a question:

“What do you think?”

Li Zhuiyuan shifted slightly and continued, “You said they started fighting afterward?”

“Yes, they did. Many people died, lying in pools of blood and gore.”

“Who died?”

“I can’t remember. But the ones still standing… they were the only ones.”

“And among the dead—was there a version of you?”

“What do you think?”

Li Zhuiyuan straightened again and looked down at his fingers. “And Zhu Changyong—only one of him remained too?”

“Yes.”

“What happened next?”

“We went in again.”

“The same cave?”

“No, this time we went through the door. The surviving Honda realized it could be opened—not fully, but just enough for someone to slip through sideways.”

“You formed teams again?”

“Yes.”

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to ask: how could they tell which of the survivors were their original companions, and which were the duplicates?

And that door, previously unopenable—now it could be.

So had they gone in, or come out?

But he didn’t dare ask too directly. He sensed her mental state was wavering again.

That fleeting calm, born of catharsis, was like drinking poison to quench thirst. Given how recently it had all happened, her condition would only worsen from here, until even this brief lucidity vanished entirely.

He might be the last person to hear what happened from her own mouth.

Li Zhuiyuan silently cursed Xu Wen again. If he hadn’t come today, this thread of intel would’ve been lost forever. No wonder Li Lan didn’t bring Xu Wen on the mission.

“Did the environment change after going in through the door?”

“Yes. It was vast and bright—sun, moon, and stars all overhead.”

“What about underfoot?”

“Pits. Row after row of pits. Beside each pit, a stone statue. The pits were filled with water, and bronze chains extended from the statues into the neighboring pits.”

“How many?”

“Countless. We followed them forward, until we reached… that house.”

“House? There was a house? How big?”

“Very big. Enormous.”

“Wasn’t it more like a palace?”

“No, not a palace. Just a house. It had two horns, long whiskers, and a terrifyingly large mouth.”

“An animal? A massive creature?”

“Not an animal. Just a house.”

Li Zhuiyuan sighed inwardly. Her mind was unraveling. Her account was becoming increasingly disjointed.

“Did you enter the house?”

“I didn’t. I stayed outside. My husband and the others went in.”

“Who do you mean by ‘the others’?”

“Honda, Ashley, Zhu Changyong.”

“Who stayed with you?”

“Four or five people.”

“Why split up?”

“We had to hold the ropes.”

Her logic had fully collapsed.

“Ropes? What happened to the path leading to the house?”

“It flooded.”

“Wasn’t it dry? Where did the water come from?”

“The water from the pits rose slowly. They were tied to ropes as they moved ahead.”

As she spoke, the woman stood and began to tremble.

“And then?”

Li Zhuiyuan knew he couldn’t wait. He needed the outcome.

“Then everything turned black. That house—whatever was inside it—woke up. The sun, moon, and stars vanished. I saw rings of red, like eyes. Enormous eyes.

It was angry. It woke up. They all crawled out of the pits—so many, countless…”

“What were they?”

“Too many to tell. All of them. The rope on my husband snapped. They were swallowed by the house. Ahhh!”

Li Zhuiyuan stood too. “What about you and the others who stayed behind?”

She clutched her head. “We ran. We all ran. We squeezed back through the door—just wide enough for one at a time. Someone used a pickaxe to kill two others and got through first. I followed him.

I left my husband. I abandoned him.”

“You couldn’t save him. It’s not your fault.”

“Is that so…” Her emotions settled slightly with those words.

Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t just saying it for comfort. In such a bizarre, terrifying situation, no one could act rationally.

“How many of you made it out?”

“Two. Me and him.”

“He made it back to the boat?”

“No. When I returned to where we stashed our diving gear, his set was still there.”

“What about the others’ gear?”

“All there. I was the only one who brought mine back.”

“So you… killed him.”

Her eyes sharpened, her face solemn. But soon, a smile tugged at her left cheek.

It was a silent confession.

“Why?”

“Because I suspected… he wasn’t really one of us.”

“So in the end, only you returned.”

“Yes.”

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